the marxist books come out. >> it was amazing. >> i learned that mark halperin might be consulting. he said that you look like you're from "petticoat junction." joe designed this dress. it is all his fault. ed -- >> and what show will this dress be on? >> "good morning kennebunkport." >> that and "100 new uses for celery." if it is too early, tell the folks up the coast in portland what time it s. >> it is morning joe. >> chuck? the battle to define paul vine still center stage where the congressman calls the white house out on jobs, president obama takes every opportunity to paint ryan as the ideological leader of the unpopular house republicans. meanwhile, at a ryan event, hecklers race the stage. plus, we are learning more about the roster of speakers at the republican convention and if nothing else, promises to be

entertaining a plum role for governor chris christie and senator marco rubio also nabs a key slot. them matically you can the face of a party that romney now wants to sell. and kay bailey hutchison sits down for her exit interview today, part of our week long series with the departing senators. good morning from washington it is tuesday, april 14, 2012 -- august 14, 2012. my apologize. this is the daily run down. i'm chuck todd it is august, april, it is the as. go right to my first reads of the morning, battleground blitz. the race to define paul ryan turns to five swing states today, the president is in iowa, mitt romney, ohio, biden will campaign through virginia while ryan stops in colorado before heading to las vegas, nevada, where he will give a private briefing, by the ways, to republican donors and raise some money at the venetian hotel. republican meg ga donor sheldon adelson will be there as well. the two national tickets seem to share one goal right now which

is trying to define paul ryan first. democrats want to paint him as the ideological warrior determined to take away your medicare, republicans selling him as the serious candidate with a serious plan for the debt. >> my running mate, paul ryan, a great leader. >> what's gutsy about giving millionaires another tax break? what's gutsy -- what's gut bill is gutting medicare? >> he attacks problems. and he recognizes that 24r are hon rec differences between honest people and he looks to find twice find common ground. >> he is a very articulate spokesperson for governor romney's vision. the problem is it's the wrong vision for america. >> making his first solo campaign appearance at the iowa state fair, romney -- ryan tried to talk about the economy. >> as you see the president come you there on his bus tour, you might ask him the same question that i'm getting asked from people all around america and that is where are the jobs, mr.

president? >> ryan was interrupted immediately by the campaign's latest flash point, medicare. >> are you going to cut medicare? are you going cut medicare? >> we like to be respectful of one another and peaceful with one another and listen to one another. these ladies must not be from iowa or wisconsin. like i said, she must not be from iowa. so -- hey. all right. >> look, this is always the danger of the ryan pick. if you make the race a clash of big ideas, then the economy takes a back seat. romney talked about the economy yesterday in florida and ryan did the same in iowa but it is medicare that dominated the day. asked repeatedly about differences between his own medicare plan and ryan's, it sounded a lot like romney was hedging his bets.

>> i'm sure there are place that my budget is better than his. >> [ inaudible ]. >> there may be. i will take a look at the differences. >> you said during a debate earlier this year, paul ryan's latest medicare proposal is absolutely right on. so i'm curious, is there anything about it you disagree with? >> the items that we agree on i think outweigh any difference there is may be. we haven't gone through piece by piece and said, here is a place where there is a difference. i can't imagine any two people, even in the same party, who have exactly the same positions on all issues. >> now, republicans want to play offense on medicare, going after its entitlements in general and attract president on his health care law august strategy that romney himself also employed. >> do not do what the president's done and that is to cut $700 billion out of the current program. >> in fact, the president, depends on how you measure the word "cut," did he not cut

medicare you can the cost of the program continues to rise but it's at a slower rate. but of course this is medicare, nuance always gets lost here, ask republicans when they were on the business end of this for mullen is '96. it is a fact both sides are counting on. the other piece of baggage, if you will that ryan does bring to the republican ticket is the burden of being a congressional republican, a group that's not very popular these days and if there was any doubt that the president was going to try to saddle romney with that brand, it's no accident that he addressed ryan this way over the past 48 hours. >> i want to congratulate congressman ryan. i know congressman ryan. i have got ton know congressman ryan. congressman ryan is a decent man. if you happen to see congressman ryan. my opponent and congressman ryan and their allies in congress -- >> did you catch that? apparently his title is congressman. congressman's job rating is in the teens, folks. republicans consistently trail on the congressional ballot

test. don't be surprised if it's mostly congressman ryan from here on out. in iowa, the president plowed into ryan on farming issues, reminding voters that in the middle of an historic drought, members of congress have gone home to their districts without reauthorizing the farm bill. >> i am told that governor romney's new running mate, paul ryan, might be around eye watt next few days, he is one of the leaderness of congress standing in the way. so, if you happen to see congressman ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to iowa and our rural communities. >> in an interview with fox news, speaker john boehner revealed that ryan is what he called a "brave choice." >> there were safer choices. you read all that noise over the last couple of weeks. and because paul ryan has carried the house republican budget over the last couple of years -- >> fascinating that the speaker went ahead and went public, saying there were safer choices,

acknowledging the politics and the difficulties of this. i'm going to talk too chairman of the rnc in a minute about that and some other things. finally, one place where republicans are eager to on the ryan budget is in the home state of wisconsin where republicans hold a senate primary today. the guy who recruited ryan for congress, former congressman mark newman, he is batting former governor tommy thompson, father of welfare reform. businessman eric hovde and assembly speaker jeff fitzgerald on the ballot. newmanen has the support of most of the tea batter groups, including the conservative club for growth. thompson is running an 11th hour radio ad featuring none other than new favorite son, paul ryan. >> at his rally sunday, paul ryan pointed to tommy's reforms as rallying cry for conservatives. >> tommy thompson, welfare reform, getting people off of welfare back to work. >> the winner of today's primary will take on the democratic

nominee-to-be, timmy baldwin in the fall. despite denials like this one -- >> the address? >> i have got nothing like that. >> it is now official, my colleague, jamie gangel reported a month ago, new jersey governor chris christie will deliver the keynote address at the republican convention in tampa. the new jersey governor told "usa today" that he "plans to make an emphatic argument on behalf of republican approaches and shared sacrifice to face the nation's biggest challenges." apparently already on the fourth draft of his speech, he says, grinding away on it. well with the romney/ryan ticket set, governor of new jersey tapped for the keynote address, republicans are full steam ahead forth big event at month's end. the man in charge of putting it all together is reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee. mr. chairman, good morning. bright and early from colorado, right? >> hey, chuck.

you bet. we are bright and early labor day excited for a big day here at the local high school and paul's gonna have a great speech this morning and we are looking forward to t you are right, we got a big race back in wisconsin for the senate today, too. >> let me ask you about the message of now the convention. do you feel like the convention has a theme now? ryan are you have chris christie what is the theme that you want this convention to be about other than the way you are running about -- against president obama? what is the theme? what is the message of the republican party in 2012? >> yeah, and marco rubio introducing mitt romney on thursday night is going to be great. here's what i generally think about this. i think most people would agree that when you're dealing with an incumbent president like obama, there are generally in my opinion, two boxes that people in america have to check. the first box is first, which is did this president fulfill the mission? did he meet the promises and are

we better off today than we were three or four years ago? that's the first question. and that's the first box. the second box that you can only get to after the first one is did the republicans put an articulate, reasonable, intelligent alternative leaders on the ballot to lead this country? that is box that i personally perceive the convention really to hone in on, which is the mitt romney story, who is mitt romney? a good, decent man that built something from nothing, that gave away his father's inheritan inheritance, saved the olympics, good governor. that store very a story of success that we, in the republican party, are gonna celebrate. we are gonna celebrate the american dream and success. we are not going gonna be on defense on success and i think that that is something that you are going to see at the convention. the mitt romney story and the american dream. >> okay. i want to ask but a comment you made on "meet the press" on sunday when we were talking about this issue of medicare and

this fight over whose cutting medicare around you said the person that has blood on his hands on medicare is president obama. i ask you about that because in paul ryan's budget, those cuts would stay. is that fair? what part of build a on the president's hands do you mean here? >> well what i'm talking about is the fact that the president, the president in his budget, which by the way, not in his budget, in obama care, the president took, basically stole, and stole is the right word actually, stole $700 billion in the ten-year window from medicare and put it into obama care to help pay for it. it is very clear. the fact of the matter is it's accurate. it's what he did. and by the way, it's what -- >> what would you do with this $700 billion in savings? what is paul ryan gonna do with it? >> this is the same -- this is

the same definition that barack obama used when describing what john mccain wanted to do in 2008. so, if he doesn't like the term "stole" or raid from medicare to pay something else exshouldn't have used it in 2008. so, what paul ryan -- i mean what mitt romney has done, in his plan, he has decided that he is going to put that money back into medicare. this is about the future, chuck, what we are going to do about something both republicans and democrat agree with, if we do nothing, which is what the president is doing now, medicare will be broke. everyone can agree with that the bigger question is what is this president going to do about it and what has he done about it and what are we going to do about it? are we going to shy away from even having a debate? no. i think we need to charge up the hill, have this debate and bring it to the american people. and i've -- i got to tell you,

as one of paul's good friends from wisconsin, i have seen him take this debate and go to town halls and talk to people in a tough district and make the case that we need to save medicare around that's what we are going to do. >> i want to ask you about a report in politico this morning and it admit it is a lot of anonymous republican strategists. >> always anonymous strategists. >> people working on house and senate race and one says the most popular phrase in washington right now is "i love paul ryan" but this person adds, "this could be the defining moment of the campaign if they win their battle to define medicare, romney wins the presidency if they lose it they lose big in the fall." do you agree with that analysis, full, from a republican strategist? >> well, i think that mitt romney has shown incredible leadership by picking paul ryan. i think we need a defining moment in this country. i think americans are starving

for a defining moment in this country where we can have an honest debate about something that we know if we do nothing is going to end poorly. you know what this president has a record. people worse off today than three or four years ago, he didn't fulfill his promise. we are not only going to highlight the fact he failed but we have plans to save this country. we have to do that. >> do you think -- >> chuck -- >> mr. chairman, do you think republicans down the ballot are making a mistake if they try to distance themselves from paul ryan's budget? >> well, i think it's a mistake to shy away from something very clear if we don't do anything something about medicare, do what the president wants to do we will allow medicare to go bankrupt, we want to save it they want to go bankrupt and they have made everything worse. so i think that's what we need to talk about, something we are going to talk about on the campaign trail and we have got a

guy in paul ryan that can explain that and make the case to the american people. >> reince priebus, chairman of the republican party. chris christie your keynote exmarco rubio introducing mitt romney. thanks for coming on. we will be watching. >> thanks, chuck. romney's record, will it talk to another businessman-turned-governor, who says romney has it all wrong. plus if it's tuesday, now what he that means, we told but wisconsin already, that's not the only primary race today. could shake up the ballot's power in the senate, perhaps. but first, a look ahead at the schedules of president obama and mitt romney today. the president, more of his bus tour in iowa. oskaloosa, marshalltown, waterloo, driving through a town where there are more toddz bury than i know of. say hello to my friends in edgewood, iowa. you are watching "the daily

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remember the issue of jobs and the economy? i do, i thought that was the number one issue of this campaign. any way, they have taken a back seat this week to made care, the president and his allies line up to attack paul ryan and his budget plan. but the change in focus a good thing for the president? with me now, delaware's democratic governor, jack markle. he is actually the author of an op ed that you seem to go after mitt romney a little bit on business experience and whether it translates or not into governing are. a little background on you, i should let people know, you were in the private sector working at nextel, ver early on, 13th

employee, you write this morning in your op ed. what lessons are you -- make the argument here, the lessons from the private sector that are good to take away and which ones do you think are not good to take away? >> good morning and thanks for having me with you, chuck. i think that really is the question, what lessons do you learn from the private sector? governor romney has, for years now, going back to his race against senator kennedy and then against shannon o'brien for governor of massachusetts says basically elect me governor, elect me president, because i've been in business. i have also been in business as you mentioned, having been with ex-tell from number 13 to 3,000, i was with kinsey and comcast as well. i just believe he has learned many of the wrong lessons it is not about from my perspective, a topdown approach. rather, it ought to be about building the economy for a strong middle class. and if -- and the real question what does it take to do that?

that's what i would like to explore. >> that sounded like -- no offense, sounded like just the same talking point i hear out of the white house, but i guess i go back to your business experiences. so, let me -- let's start with this. one thing about the business world is you do have to sometimes pick winners and losers in your own -- you got to make a decision, this isn't going well, i am going too cut off funding, might have to lay these people off if i'm going to invest over here. so making a tough decision that sometimes politicians don't want do because of votes, isn't that a good experience to take away? >>. >> certainly good to make tough decision, lots of places you can learn that. here is the real point. and this -- my perspective is very much informed not only by my experience in the business world but also by the fact that i visited 750 businesses over the last three and a half years. when i do i ask them what can we do to facilitate your success? here's what they tell me, it's about schools and workforce it is about quality of life.

it is about having reasonable taxes, good cost of doing business, having a very responsive government and having good infrastructure. that's basically the list. it is not just about taxes, taxes, taxes. i think is a very, very different perspective. by the way, i will tell you that i also believe that the president has taken a number of steps, they don't often get reported but if you look at the bill he signed a couple months ago, the jobs act, that was to make it easier for companies to go public, because he recognized that so many jobs get created after an ipo and getting increasingly difficult for companies to go public. >> let me ask you this, why do you think there are so many businesses sitting on the sidelines with their money right now, when -- i always hear this nebulous phrase "uncertainty" and i hear businesses will say well, they are not sure how the president's health care slaw going to work or they are not sure what's gonna happen with the fiscal cliff. you know, you can always find an excuse into the to spend money. that sounds to me like simply an excuse by some of these business

owners. >> i think the uncertainty is real. in the end, businesses will be more likely to invest when they are certain they are going to get some kind of positive return on that investment. i think there has been enough uncertainty, includinging the issues that you just mentioned, which is why it would be good to figure out the fiscal cliff issues once and for all. but again, i think if you look at the -- some of the steps that the president has taken here, especially around promoting exports, around attracting foreign direct investment, these are things very much linked to job creation in this country. we have certainly got a lot of work do but my view is that the more businesses focus on that the more businesses understand that there is a role for the government to play when they are trying to participate in markets around the world that may be growing faster than ours, they will appreciate the step these are being taken there. >> all right. guy to the leave it there, democratic governor from delaware, jack markle, thanks

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connecticut and minnesota. but there are two races in particular that i'm watching of interest in florida, a test between the old guard and the new guard. a member versus member race, veteran republican john micah, the chairman of the powerful house transportation committee, goes up against a freshman, congresswoman sandy adams, who came to congress in the 2010 midterm wave. tea party anybody? connecticut, long time joe lieberman seat up for grabs. republican primary today we thought was going to be close, we will see, maybe it will be. former wrestling executive linda mcmahon hasn't stopped running for the u.s. senate since last time and former congressman chris shays, face off for the republican nomination. this has been nasty, chris hayes is promised if linda mcmahon wins, he is not supporting her. in this week's ten hottest advertising markets, remember it is all about saturation it is all about iowa. four of the ten aets most saturated, des moines number

three, quad city, sioux city, seven, eight and nine, you see the other states there, virginia market is back on top. roanoke, lynchburg at number one. unbelievable, you look at the amount of money being spent, team romney is outspending team obama by 2:1 this week. the romney campaigning the rnc and outside groups spending $25 million this week compared to team obama at $11 million. still, an unbelievable amount of money in august. all right. next, we have got more of my candid conversations with retiring senators. today, it is kay on not being a moderate. her one-time white house dreams. and why she says governors don't make the best president. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc.

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many of you know, the senate is not going to look the same next year, many faces stepping

down and a little hole in the middle it seems like, going away. all week, we are conducting exit interviews, full with these departing lawmakers. today, we turn to the first and still only woman to represent texas in the united states senate, senator kay bailey hutchison. she has represented the lone star state in the upper chamber since 1993. when i sat down with senator hutchison, our discussion included the consequences of compromise and how hard it is for lawmakers to avoid getting labeled in washington. >> i have been dubbed a moderate. i am not a moderate. i'm a conservative. i am a fix-it conservative. there is a divide on people who want to achieve something, as ronald reagan said, i would rather have half a loaf than no loaf. and people who just want to blow things up. and i think there are some very principled people in the

category of wanting to blow things up, but i think it's a sign of the times that you have people elected in that category, because people are scared right now. the problems are so big and the divisions are so stark that i think people are afraid that our economy may not recover if we stay on this same road. >> moderate's been used as an attack word. >> yes. >> that healthy for the republican party? >> oh, i have been attacked for that. >> the word mod vat obviously not a four-letter word. >> compromise and moderate have become a word used against someone. i am a conservative, i say i'm conservative. i vote conservative, but if you actually compromise, i work to get the faa bill passed. do you really not want the

airports to be able to build runways and keep commerce moving? really? or the highway bill? do you really want not to have the bridges and the highways that keep commerce going? i couldn't get elected in maine or massachusetts because i am conservative and we have to give leave. in my opinion there is no such thing as a ryan know nothing makes me madder than someone making fun of a republican who isn't exactly the way they are. we are here to represent our states and if someone is a republican and wants to be a republican, they should be welcome in the republican party. >> any vote you sit there and say, boy, i wish i had that one back? >> there are probably lot of them. >> i expected that but like one or two in particular, like, boy, you know what in hindsight, i got that one wrong. >> the bailout. the bailout.

we needed to help the banks in a way that would not allow the whole world economy to collapse. but the representation made to the senators about how it would be done is totally changed within six weeks of the bailout vote. >> what do you make of the fact it didn't cost $700 billion, which i know you tried to explain when you were running for governor. >> i was attacked brutally. it end up being net zero. >> may end up being net zero. >> count you say your vote was good and it worked? >> well, it did work. what i felt betrayed that they changed how they were going to do it. it was very difficult and especially in texas when george bush asks to you vote for something and you do and then your governor attacks you for

it, that's pretty tough. yeah. >> having a president from your home state, both a blessing and a curse? >> yes. oh, yes. george bush became president, he no longer took care of texas. and he was right for that of course, he was the president of the country. so, i would be having to fight for texas things and somebody would say, but the president doesn't support that. and -- >> what were we supposed to do? >> omb is against you on that but i would be fighting for texas, as i should, answered would be the president of the united states, as he should. >> do you think you got to be a governor it is better to run as a governor than run as a senator or is it -- just depends on the time? >> well, in my opinion, governors don't make the best presidents. that's my opinion. and it's because they don't have the foreign policy experience and they have to learn on the

job. the governors get elected for two reasons. number one, they don't have as many issues as senators because we have voted on every controversial issue. >> whether you like it or not, cast a vote. >> governors say, well, we are executives. and they are. and they sometimes make tough decision and they have very innovative plans. but i think to dismiss senators and say governors make better presidents is a mistake, because i think the foreign policy experience is so important. it seems to me that many times, governors come in and they are beholden to their advisers because they don't know enough themselves from experience and if they have good advisers, it's great. and if they have bad advisers, it can be a catastrophe. >> i can't help but bring up the fact that the nominee of your party is a governor and there has been some -- it's funny you

bring this hup, some kr -- this has been too insulated in boston. >> he has been in business, that what's we are lacking, in this government in this crisis. he has run a big operation and done it well, both in government. >> you actually think his experience outside -- in the private sector is better than his experience as governor? >> i definitely think the private sector experience makes him much more able to realize what new regulations and new taxes and all of this constraint that we put on the job creators in this country, he can -- he can speak to that and he knows it. >> did you ever think about running for president? >> yes. >> what year? >> i would love to have run for president. but when i had my opportunity, before i had children, you didn't have the capability to just jump in and run like people

did this year. our primary -- you had people just coming up out of nowhere and running for president. that was unheard of when i was really in the time that i could have run. i would have loved to have been able to i think i could have done the job and think i had the experience to do the job but it wasn't the right timing for me. >> are you done running for office? >> probably. >> probably. >> well, no, i don't -- i can't even imagine running for office again. however, i never want to say never and have this played back to me. had. >> well, with that, i will end it there. senator hutchison, thank you for doing this. >> thank you. up next, ryan's refusal, the game the congressman didn't want to play while at the iowa state fair. plus, chris christie, the keynote pick? that's all coming up. but first, of course, the

white house soup of the day. my favorite radio guy in fort lauderdale, it is ministroneny chicken sausage. he was asking me. sir sid down there don't forget, you can always follow the show on facebook, the hutchison interview there, the entire thing. you are watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. we are doing that with all these interview, the uncut interviews, on dvd. seen on tnt, too. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food.

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until i got a job in the big apple. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. paul ryan seemed determined to enjoy the iowa state fair during his first solo campaign event yesterday. take a listen to ryan dismissing a bunch of policy questions, despite repeated attempts by reporters. >> play stump the running may. >> our job is to strengthen and protect medicare. that's what we do. president obama, [ inaudible ].

>> very exciting. >> we can play stump the running mate later, guys, i want to just enjoy the fair right now. >> all right. the tuesday panelists here, jamal simmons of the raven group, roll call reporter, share rah it up let and former governor of maryland, bob ehrlich you can the romney campaign's chairman in maryland. >> the guy wanted to do some rides, what's wrong with that? >> wanted his -- >> probably his kids with him. >> governor, i know you speak for the romney campaign, i want to ask you straight up about the hand wringing, this gop strategist hand wringing that took place in politico this morning, obviously all anonymous, nobody wants to get caught saying bad things to paul ryan. what do you say to the rat gists plotting for three to six months, i got to figure out how to inoculate on medicare, now they own it? >> this adult is adult time this election has again from birth certificates and tax returns to saving medicare to entitlement reform to tax and spend.

>> what do you tell these republican consultants? buck up? >> absolutely. >> serious? do you hand out knifes to them for the suicide attempts? >> listen, we can -- everybody uses these cliches, kick the can down the road but the fact is it is serious time. as i get around, particularly talking to younger people, i'm seeing a real serious tone because they don't have jobs. and this election is about dollars widely defined, dollars, medicare, medicare, entitlements, whole nine yards, i love the choice, but it's serious time. >> acknowledge the fact you probably wind the gap, you win the argument, could you win big, you lose the argument, could you lose big. >> i think that goes along with any choice, quite frankly, but i love the fact we have now taken this from the alley to i think a -- hopefully an intellectual level. >> do you think it stays there, shiri? >> i don't. >> you are a politician. >> you are an ex-politician,

too. you guys are supposed to be optimists. >> this kind of election is not meant to be substantive debate. >> you think elections want to be substantive. come on, now. he is not talking about those details f they are not going to talk about those details. >> you bring up a growing frustration of mine, nobody is taking questions, biden, obama, romney, ryan. we are gone going to -- everything is going to be preset interviews, not deal with too many long press conferences a little frustrating, jamal. >> the thing the governor said in terms of the election being about the deficit, the election is more about the deficit voters in their checking book accounts, most concerned about their own personal economics, their own personal jobs, not so much about the national deficit. every poll that looks at voters ranking what the important issues are, it is economy, jobs, health care, things like that before you get to the deficit. they can talk about this all

they want. >> the raw politics here. you talk about elevating the conversation. you think republicans made a mistake when they characterized what president obama did with medicare as a cut because was it was the exact same thing, democrats into republicans in '96. >> but the clinton commission in '99. >> i understand that. but i'm talking about the politics. the reason we don't have the elevated debate -- >> at some point, at some points, the politics, by the way, you are part of the problem. this show, it is 24/7, minute by minute, twitter, all nine yards. at some point though, it is a different -- it is very illogical it is very philosophic philosophical, very different sets of values competing for the american public's attention so i think in that sense, it's good. i just want to take it to the next level and not he said/she said, this silly stuff, parenthetical stuff t is really how come i can't get a job? it is all about the deficit turks is about saving these programs, these programs are

important to the american people. >> shaira, you cover the house and senate fronts. till us what is going on on the inoculation fronts? >> democrat were exside. republicans were paused when it was announced ryan was the pick. house republicans say they want this fight. they want to take this to the mat. i don't know if they are going to feel that way in a month. >> if we were debating about medicare, a long time since i have seen the romney campaign in paid messaging, welfare out today, a role of the government issue, they changed debate, we want to have a debate about the role of government, we don't have to have a debate about the economy. >> i tell you what they say in chicago, every day we are not talking about the economy and jobs is a good day for barack obama because on all these other fronts it is about welfare, medicare, these issues, the conversation with the voters, voters agree with democrats on the values of that than more so

with romney. >> those issues are all intertwined. they intertwined. they really are. >> if romney has to make that case? >> absolutely. stick around. trivia time. we asked who was the last democrat elected to the u.s. senate from texas. lloyd benson. remember, he ran and won re-election and lost to michael dukakis. he serve issed as bill clinton's secretary and kay bailey hutchison was elected and beat the appointed senator at that time. e-mail us, dailyrundown@msnbc.com. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction

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one of the republican

parties' bigger stars, chris christie, has been tapped to give the keynote address during the republican convention 13 days away. let's bring back our panel, jamal simmons, bob ehrlich, and shira. it's role of government, shrinking government making decisions about government, that's the party the republicans want to be in the 2012. >> also, it's taking a very serious tone. ryan's plan is very serious. mitt romney wants to show that he's very serious. chris christie, although he has a sense of humor, they don't want it to seem like it's gloom and doom. >> is the convention going to be more about filling in the blanks for mitt romney? >> chris is perfect. the denominator here is, we can

no longer pay our bills. >> what do you need out of the convention? people to know mitt romney better or people to understand what the republican party is for? >> b as much as "a." >> i think that's one of the issues that it's about mitt romney. i think it's more about paul ryan. >> defining the party? >> defining the party in order to go to the country and say, we're better than the other guys and here's why. >> shameless plugs? >> u.s. marines, my daddy, loved the marines. >> much less seriously, if paul ryan ever served you a margarita, i'd like to hear from you for a story. >> you roll caller. that's okay. >> i've got a piece on

usnews.com on ryan and how he won't help romney with his issue with women and la tooth knowns. we'll see you right back here tomorrow. we have a special day on msnbc tomorrow. ing a account agricultural secretary joins me about the drought of 2012 coming up next, chris "jansing & co." here is your meteorology forecast. we'll have thunderstorms in the eastern half of the country. minor airport delays. new york to d.c. to philly to

baltimore. a combination of late afternoon into the evening. a chance of those storms in atlanta. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air.

at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. between taking insulin and testing my blood sugar... is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get them right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. good morning. i'm richard lui in for chris jansing. it's an all out campaign blitz. medicare is out front and center thanks to paul ryan. >> the truth is, we